ANAHEIM, Calif. (June 21, 2009) – The lights may have gone out at the PalaCatania in Catania, Italy on Sunday, but there was no power outage when it came to the U.S. Men’s National Volleyball Team, which defeated Italy 3-1 (25-19, 18-25, 25-22, 25-20) in an FIVB World League match.

The U.S. Men will return to the United States with a 3-1 record and will get ready to face China on June 26-27 in San Jose, Calif. (Buy Tickets) Italy falls to 1-3 and will travel to Netherlands next weekend.

Andrew Hein (Carol Stream, Ill.) scored nine points on seven kills, one block and one ace. David Lee (Alpine, Calif.) scored seven points on three kills, two blocks and one ace. Donald Suxho (Korce, Albania) scored two points on two kills.

Mauro Gavotto led Italy with 16 points on 15 kills and one block. Cristian Savani added 15 points on 14 kills and one block.

Italy out-blocked the United States 16-6. But the U.S. Men led in aces, 6-1 and kills, 59-51.

“I am happy for the match our young players played,” U.S. Head Coach Alan Knipe (Huntington Beach, Calif.) said in an FIVB press release. “What good receiving and great distribution; I think we won there.”

The U.S. Men were credited with 46 receptions and 24 “excellent” receptions on 72 attempts. Libero Rich Lambourne (Tustin, Calif.) was credited with 16 receptions and eight “excellent” on 24 attempts. Lambourne also had 18 digs and two faults in 20 attempts.

Suxho was credited with 17 running sets (assists) and one fault in 83 attempts.

With the U.S. Men leading 6-4 in the first set, the lights went out at the PalaCatania and the match was delayed for about 20 minutes. The U.S. Men did not let it kill the momentum as they led 6-4 at the first technical timeout (TTO) and 16-13 at the second. With Team USA leading 20-14, Italy made a 3-0 run, but a Hein kill brought it to an end and the United States went on to scored the next three points to make the score 23-17. Italy picked up a couple more points on U.S. errors, but Team USA took the set victory.

Italy’s defense improved in the second set as its blockers targeted the U.S. hitters and Matej Cernic’s receiving improved. Italy took the set 25-18.The U.S. Men led 16-14 at the second TTO of the third set and stretched the lead to 22-18. Italy used a 4-1 run to pull to within one point at 23-22, but a Rooney kill gave the United States set point and the U.S. Men pulled out the victory.

Team USA led 8-7 at the first TTO of the fourth set and expanded the lead to 10-7 before Italy began its comeback and tied the score at 10-10. The U.S. Men responded with a 4-0 run to lead 14-10. Although Italy scored the next three points, it never gained the lead and the U.S. Men took the match victory.

World League Tickets: Tickets for the World League matches in San Jose, Calif., (June 26-27 against China), Hoffman Estates, Ill., (July 10-11 against Italy) and Wichita, Kan., (July 17-18 against Netherlands) are on sale.